Safespill’s founders discovered the potential for a system that removes fuel spills while working on aluminum helidecks (helicopter landing platforms) for offshore oil & gas platforms and drillships. Some of these helidecks had a perforated top surface to drain potentially spilled jet fuel. This application was hardly successful as it did not eliminate the need for fire suppression systems (AFFF systems) installed on the helidecks. Additionally, the holes tended to clog up with seagull poop.

In the aviation hangar industry, AFFF systems are also used to protect against the risk of a fuel spill fire (aka pool fire) spilling out of a hangared aircraft. The problem is that these systems have a tendency to accidentally discharge, creating havoc on aircraft engines and avionics. (This is frequently seen in YouTube videos or news articles looking like giant foam parties.)

If a hollow flooring system could remove a fuel spill before it posed a “pool fire” threat, the need for an AFFF suppression system would be eliminated.

The founding team developed multiple prototypes of the flooring system and following preliminary fire testing, a demo was presented to the US Navy. After receiving positive responses, Safespill was founded as an LLC in late 2013.